What Caused This Mysterious Geologic Structure

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers snapped this photo from the International Space Station. (ESA/NASA)

Mysterious Geologic Structure Seen From Space -- FOX News/Live Science

A huge, copper-toned formation in West Africa dominates a mesmerizing photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers snapped this hypnotic image of the so-called Richat structure in Mauritania, as the space station flew over the Sahara Desert on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa. Erosion of the various rock layers created the ring-like features that make up the sprawling structure, but the origin of the Richat structure remains somewhat mysterious, geologists have said.

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My Comment: Hmmm .... talk about interesting mysteries.

Telepresence Robots Will Soon Join Doctors On Their Rounds

CtrlWorks' Telepresence Puppet CtrlWorks

Telepresence Robots Will Join Doctors on Their Rounds in Singapore Next Month -- Popular Science

Deploying telepresence robots in a medical setting isn’t exactly a new notion, but a Singapore-based startup is easing the technology into the clinical setting in a clever way. While other telepresence platforms have largely focused on allowing doctors to examine patients and oversee care remotely, CtrlWorks envisions its Puppet as more of a remotely piloted assistant that will reduce doctor workloads, dutifully taking down case notes and filing them in the proper places as a doctor makes his rounds. And next month at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore it will get a chance to prove its value.

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Former DARPA Chief Talks At TED

Former DARPA Chief Regina Dugan Talks Hypersonic Gilders and Hummingbirds at TED -- Popular Science

PopSci’s favorite DARPA head turned Google exec has done her turn at TED, and the video has just hit the wires. Titled “From Mach-20 Glider to Hummingbird Drone,” Dugan’s theme of discouraging the fear of failure is a retrospective on DARPA’s technological milestones and how the nerds at DARPA reached them by believing in impossible things.

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Who Screens The Pilots?

Fly For Fun

Are Airline Pilots Screened For Mental Health? -- Air & Space Smithsonian

The case of the ranting JetBlue captain—who went berserk when his co-pilot locked him out of the cockpit after noticing erratic behavior—got us wondering: how are airline pilots tested for soundness of mind?

Although the Federal Aviation Administration requires physicals every year for commercial pilots under 40 and every six months for those older, the FAA does not require psychological checks. The FAA-approved doctors order testing only if they think a pilot needs it.

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My Comment: After what happened with a JetBlue captain this week .... psychological screenings will probably soon become the norm.

Did Comets Bring Life To Earth?

Photo: The combination of water, energy and amino acids – which bind together to form proteins – could have caused the first chemical reactions which are believed to be the origin of life Photo: ALAMY

Life Brought To Earth By Comets -- The Telegraph

Life on Earth may have been sparked by comets carrying with them the key ingredients for our existence, scientists claim.

NASA scientists have replicated the impact of a comet and demonstrated that amino acids, a building block of life, could have survived the intense heat and shock waves given off in the collision.

The combination of water, energy and amino acids – which bind together to form proteins – could have caused the first chemical reactions and created proteins, the researchers said.

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Google 'To Launch' New GDrive Storage

Google is rumoured to be on the brink of launching 'GDrive', a service that would offer online storage for digital files - a direct rival to startup Dropbox

Google 'To Launch' New GDrive Storage Service In April To Take On Rivals Such As Dropbox -- Daily Mail

* Service 'to launch' in first week of April
* Rival to $4 billion storage start-up Dropbox
* Will allow users to store files such as music and video

Google will launch 'GDrive', an online storage service that will store large files online instead of in PC hard drives, early in April, according to leaks from sources near the company.

The service will be a rival to services such as Dropbox, a 'cloud' storage start-up recently valued at $4 billion.

'I am told the big day is sometime during the first week of April 2012,' said blogger Om Malik, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the company's plans.

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Billions Of Habitable Alien Planets Should Exist

This artist’s impression shows a sunset seen from the super-Earth Gliese 667 Cc. The brightest star in the sky is the red dwarf Gliese 667 C, which is part of a triple star system. The other two more distant stars, Gliese 667 A and B appear in the sky also to the right. Astronomers have estimated that there are tens of billions of such rocky worlds orbiting faint red dwarf stars in the Milky Way alone. CREDIT: ESO/L. Calçada

Billions Of Habitable Alien Planets Should Exist In Our Galaxy -- Space.com

here should be billions of habitable, rocky planets around the faint red stars of our Milky Way galaxy, a new study suggests.

Though these alien planets are difficult to detect, and only a few have been discovered so far, they should be ubiquitous, scientists say. And some of them could be good candidates to host extraterrestrial life.

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My Comment: Only billions?

Two Well Known Species Of Sharks Could Be Endangered

Hammerheads are aggressive hunters, feeding on smaller fish, octopuses, squid, and crustaceans. They do not actively seek out human prey, but are very defensive and will attack when provoked. Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

A Case Of Misidentification: Two Sharks Could Be Endangered -- Red Orbit

Confusion of identity between two shark species may threaten the survival of both. A new and unnamed shark species originally discovered off the Eastern United States seaboard discovered by Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center (NSU-OC) has a cousin that shares a striking resemblance: The endangered scalloped hammerhead shark.

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My Comment: I guess if present trends continue .... shark fin soup will be a thing of the past.

Drone Aircraft Are No Longer Restricted To Military Use

Unblinking Eyes In The Sky -- The Economist

Technology and society: Drone aircraft are no longer restricted to military use. They are being built and used by hobbyists, activists and estate agents, among others. What are the implications for safety and privacy?

WHEN environmental activists start using drones to track down Japanese whaling vessels, as they did in December, it is a sure sign that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are no longer the sole prerogative of the armed forces. Police around the world are keen to use small pilotless aircraft to help them nab fleeing criminals and monitor crime scenes from above. With price tags of a little more (and, in some cases, a good deal less) than the $40,000 of a patrol car, a new generation of micro-UAVs is being recruited to replace police helicopters costing $1.7m and up.

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My Comment: And this is a trend that will continue to grow.

Military Dating Site Hacked By LulzSec

msnbc.com

Hacker Group LulzSec Says It Has Attacked MilitarySingles.com -- L.A. Times

LulzSec appears to be back after many months of lying low. It says it has obtained email addresses and other data about nearly 171,000 users of MilitarySingles.com, a commercial dating site.

The hacker group known as LulzSec appears to be back after many months of lying low, saying it has obtained email addresses and other information about nearly 171,000 users of MilitarySingles.com, a commercial dating site.

The group, which in 2011 went after government agencies and companies including the FBI, CIA, Sony and even PBS, said many of the email addresses include @us.army.mil and other addresses reserved for the military.

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Update: Hackers steal passwords from military dating site -- CNET

My Comment: 171,000 users are inconvenienced .... that is a lot of people.

U.S. Heavily Dependent On Military Space Technology

Hearings Show Our Dependence On Military Space Technology -- Washington Post

The United States may be falling behind in transportation, education and health care down here on Earth, but its military infrastructure is certainly way ahead when it comes to imagery and communications satellites armed with defensive and offensive capabilities out there in space.

That the United States leads in the militarization of space is apparent from House and Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearings this month on the fiscal 2013 budget of $9.7 billion for military space programs.

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My Comment: Not everyone is optimistic that the U.S. will be able to hold the "high-ground" in the future.

AI Expert Ben Goertzel On Coast To Coast Radio

AI Expert Ben Goertzel On Coast To Coast Radio March 28 -- Kurzweilai

AI expert Dr. Ben Goertzel will be on Coast to Coast AM on March 28, talking about his work in AI and its applications in areas like financial prediction, gaming, and radical life extension. He will also discuss creating benevolent superhuman AI.

Dimitar Sasselov, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, will discuss thbreakthroughs in synthetic biology and exoplanetary astronomy, and how they will shed new light on our place in the universe.

The show airs nationwide nightly at 1am-5am EDT/10pm-2am PDT.

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How Jupiter Effects Halley's Comet

Image of 2007 Orionids, showing Orion constellation in the backdrop. (Credit: S. Quirk)

Jupiter Helps Halley’s Comet Give Us More Spectacular Meteor Displays -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2012) — The dramatic appearance of Halley's comet in the night sky has been observed and recorded by astronomers since 240 BC. Now a study shows that the orbital influences of Jupiter on the comet and the debris it leaves in its wake are responsible for periodic outbursts of activity in the Orionid meteor showers. The results will be presented by Aswin Sekhar at the National Astronomy Meeting in Manchester on the 27th of March.

Halley's comet orbits the Sun every 75-76 years on average. As its nucleus approaches the Sun, it heats up and releases gas and dust that form the spectacular tail. This outgassing leaves a trail of debris around the orbit.

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Is Nuclear Fusion Possible?

A prototype of the nuclear fusion system that relies on coils and compressing magnetic fields to produce energy. CREDIT: Derek Lamppa

Nuclear Fusion Is A Real Possibility, New Models Suggest -- Live Science

If new computer simulations pan out in the real world, nuclear fusion, the power source that makes stars shine, may be a practical possibility here on Earth, scientists say.

Simulations at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico revealed a fusion reactor that surpasses the "break-even" point of energy input versus energy output, indicating a self-sustaining fusion reaction. (This doesn't break any laws of physics for the same reason that starting a fire with a match doesn't).

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My Comment: Faster please.

Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds

Photo: (Credit: istockphoto)

Eating Lots Of Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds -- CBS News

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

Mindless eating: 8 food goofs that pack on pounds

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.

Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?

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My Comment: Hard to argue with a position that advocates .... yum yum .... chocolate.

International Space Station Nearly Struck By Space Junk

International Space Station Nearly Struck By Space Junk: Six Astronauts Nearly Had To Abandon Ship After A Piece Of A Russian Rocket Nearly Collided With The International Space Station -- Chicago Tribune/US News and World Report

Sometime Friday afternoon, the six people--including two Americans--aboard the International Space Station got a warning: Head into the nearest Russian Soyuz spacecraft and wait for further instructions, because a chunk of a disabled Russian rocket was hurtling towards them at speeds of over 17,000 miles per hour.

The threat of man-made space debris is increasingly becoming a problem for astronauts and the nearly 700 satellites orbiting earth. NASA estimates there are about 19,000 man-made objects orbiting earth--at orbital speeds, even a tiny particle can destroy satellites or cause serious damage to the space station.

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More News On The Passing Debris That Forced The ISS Crew Into Their Escape Pods

Close encounter: Space station astronauts forced to shelter in escape pods after near miss with debris from Russian rocket -- Daily Mail
Astronauts take refuge in escape capsules as space station threatened by debris -- The Telegraph
Space junk forces astronauts into escape capsules on International Space Station -- CNN
Astronauts scramble for escape pods as space junk threat gets serious -- Christian Science Monitor

Can We Build Robots With Morals?

Artificial Intelligence Pioneer: We Can Build Robots With Morals -- Jewish World Review

Like it or not, we're moving computers closer to autonomy.

Judea Pearl, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, won the Association for Computing Machinery's A.M. Turing award earlier this month, considered the highest honor in the computing world.

Pearl developed two branches of calculus that opened the door for modern artificial intelligence, such as the kind found in voice recognition software and self-driving cars.

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My Comment: I am sure that we can build boundaries/morals for robots to function .... but then again .... we can also build robots with morals that are not to our liking.

Military Robot Shaves Human Head

Short-Circuit, Back And Sides: Military Robot Shaves Human Head -- Daily Mail

The drastic change of image that comes with having your head shaved is scary enough – but one man doubled the terror by letting a robot do the job for him.

The prototype robot was a Multi-Arm UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) from U.S company Intelligent Automation Inc (IAI) in Maryland – and is designed to tackle IEDs, check backpacks for bombs and breach doors.

But on this occasion it was armed with multiple clippers to cut the hair of an IAI volunteer, who went through the ordeal to raise money for cancer charity the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

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More News On Robots Being Able To Do tasks Like Cutting Our Hair

Unmanned Robot Ties Knots and Shaves Hair, Won't Cut Off Your Head -- PC World
Robot shaves man's head for charity -- 9News
Robot barber shaves human head for charity -- MSNBC
Robot barber shaves heads for charity -- Ubergizmo

People Are Becoming More Selfish

Newer Generations Increasingly About “Me,” Study Finds -- Courtesy of the American Psychological Association and World Science Staff

oung Amer­i­cans care less and less about the the en­vi­ron­ment, pol­i­tics, and the world around them in gen­er­al, a study has found; even the idea of seek­ing a mean­ing­ful life is out of fash­ion.

In­stead, mon­ey, im­age and fame are the idols of our time.

“Pop­u­lar views of the mil­len­ni­al genera­t­ion, born in the 1980s and 1990s, as more car­ing, com­mun­ity-oriented and pol­i­tic­ally en­gaged than pre­vi­ous genera­t­ions are largely in­cor­rect, par­tic­u­larly when com­pared to ba­by boomers and Genera­t­ion X at the same age,” said the stu­dy’s lead au­thor, Jean Twenge, a psy­chol­o­gist at San Die­go State Uni­vers­ity and au­thor of the book Genera­t­ion Me. “These da­ta show that re­cent genera­t­ions are less likely to em­brace com­mun­ity mind­ed­ness and are fo­cus­ing more on mon­ey, im­age and fame.”

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My Comment: I am old enough to concur with these observations and results.

NASA Lauches Five Rockets In Sequence

The red dots over the water show where the five rockets of NASA's ATREX mission will deploy chemical tracers to watch how super-fast winds move some 60 miles up in the atmosphere. Three cameras at different sites will track the cloud tracers. NASA / Larsen

NASA Launches Five-Rocket Science Extravaganza At Last -- MSNBC/Space

ATREX mission studies high-level winds; glowing trails visible in skies over East Coast

At almost literally the last minute, NASA launched five suborbital sounding rockets early Tuesday on a mission to study high-level jet stream winds by creating artificial glowing clouds near the edge of space.

After several delays, the rockets started blasting off from their pads in Virginia just before the close of the day's scheduled launch window at 5 a.m. ET. The launches were held up until the very end by concerns about winds as well as boats that had strayed into the restricted range zone. But all the conditions turned "green" just in time for liftoff.

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My Comment: 5 rockets launched one after another .... that must have been a cool display. When video becomes available, I will post it.